Things We Don't Talk About
by greenerGrass09
Summary: Sometimes the past we try to forget is what we have to face in order to save the future. Bad summary, but just ignore that. Includes an OC, and Reed's in here because we all know he should come back.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this is my first fan fiction _ever_, so don't be too critical. No flames, because they're stupid and a waste of time, so don't bother. However, constructive criticism is always appreciated. Clearly I need all the help I can get. If you like the story and think this looks like it could be a good start, let me know!**

**I decided to write this because, well, I was bored and I had this floating around in my head. And I'm a horrible procrastinator and was putting off a paper. **

…somethingnotimportantalreadyknowthisyourshirtiswaytoolowforaflightattendant… and then the dreaded "please put away all electronic devices as we prepare to land. Welcome to New York City, we hope you enjoyed your flight!"

_Crap. Just had to remember that, didn't you?_

She'd heard the message many times before. Always a different voice and yet it was exactly the same every time. Sighing, Lisa reluctantly cut off Coldplay as she pulled the earphones out of her ears and reached down for her purse. As she dropped her iPod in the purse, the overwhelming and familiar sensations of nerves, dread, and excitement flooded through her. In the roughly one second she allowed herself to mull over these, a smile crept onto her face as the excitement won out as she thought to her now waiting cousin.

Of course, he hadn't been thrilled with the initial reason for why Lisa was now permanently returning to New York after 11 long years, but if there was one thing she had inherited from him, it was his stubbornness. Eventually, they worked things out with help from her grandmother.

Oh, Grams. The woman was amazing to put it simply. She had raised Lisa for the past 11 years, and quite frankly, Lisa couldn't have asked for anyone better. After everything that had happened, Grams had quickly and willingly come to Lisa's aid even though it had all hit her hard as well. She had kept her in a normal, sane state, seemingly without much effort. Lisa knew it was a skill not many people had, especially when dealing with children, and knew she was lucky.

Grams usually supported Lisa's decisions because she could usually understand where Lisa was coming from. They had a few things in common, especially when it came to traveling. Some of their best moments together were in their travels, which was how Lisa had become so familiar with the airline industry. It was their thing, and they had often brought friends with them.

It was with these trips through various countries that Grams knew that she could trust Lisa to go to New York without her. She also knew she could trust Lisa's cousin to look after her, even though she hadn't seen much of him, mostly just during the occasional holiday. He was, after all, her son-in-law's nephew, so they weren't blood. But she knew he cared a lot about Lisa. He was basically her big brother, and along with that territory came the over protectiveness that she knew of well. Even though he and Lisa hadn't seen each other in a couple of years, Grams knew she was in good hands. She also knew about the people that he worked with, and that had also helped to ease her into letting Lisa go.

As the plane came a stop and people began to get out of their seats, Lisa breathed a sigh of relief as she thought of how she would no longer have to put up with the obviously newlywed couple behind her or the screaming toddler about 5 rows up. She gratefully stretched her legs as she stood to collect her carry-on and camera bag from the overhead compartment.

Yes, camera bag. Another thing she was taking on as she returned. Photography was her thing, and to have found a job that allowed her to use that was nothing short of amazing for her. She had heard about it through a friend who knew a friend who knew a friend as those things go. Considering the connection she and her new "boss" had found between themselves though, it was kind of funny, or at least they thought it was. They hadn't actually met face to face yet, but they had talked quite a bit already, and had already become fairly good friends.

Knowing that there were other people in New York besides her cousin that were happily awaiting on her arrival helped her feel a little bit better as the dread came rushing back. The memories were enough to make her nauseous, but with the years of dealing, she held them back enough to not let it show. She just needed something to distract her.

The distraction was well worth it as she saw her cousin's smiling face come into view and she felt an unavoidable grin spread on her own. She had made the right decision, no matter what would happen.

It was only a few moments before she was able to weave her way through the other exiting passengers and fling herself into her cousin's arms after tossing her bags (carefully, of course, there is camera equipment) on the floor. He chuckled as he was easily able to lift her off her feet as she was only 5'3", something else he would tease her about to which she would either quickly remind him that the average height for women was about 5'4" or just punch him in the arm.

After a moment, he set her down and held her at arms length. "Well, fancy seeing you here, Messer!"

She rolled her eyes as she playfully slapped one of his hands away. "Yeah, whatever, Danny." She reached down for her bags so they could get out of the crowded JFK faster only to have Danny quickly intercept and leave only her purse and camera bag. He figured she would only complain if he left her nothing and he knew there was no arguing when it came to her cameras. As far as she was concerned, they were her babies.

"Hope ya don't mind, but once we get the rest of your stuff we're gonna have to go straight to the lab. I'm running a little late, and we can just leave your bags in the car till we can get it home. Lindsey's already there and Lucy's with the sitter," Danny told her as they made their way to baggage claim. One of the agreements they had settled on was that she would be living with Danny and the girls. She was also going to help a bit with watching Lucy when Danny and Lindsey were working. This was mostly her idea as Danny and Lindsey refused to let her help with any of the bills. At first they had told her to just "enjoy being nineteen" and settle into her own job. But she had reasoned with them that her job was fairly flexible and they shouldn't have to hire more sitters if they had a perfectly good, free backup at home.

"Not a problem. I really wanted to see it, I just didn't think I'd get to so soon. But now it's going to be _hours_ before I get to meet my new charge!" Lisa whined in response.

Danny snorted in response. "You just get more weird the older you get."

Lisa mock-snorted in response to his response. "Yeah, that coming from you."

Danny smirked at her as he removed his arm from her shoulders to grab her suitcase before they missed it. "Just keep in mind that you might want to tone it down when you see Linds. She's already a little worried about the effects you might have on our daughter," he added sarcastically as they headed out to the car.

"Well being related to you I can see her reasoning," Lisa responded with a grin.

They were still laughing as the car came into view and Danny set the bags in the back.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you're back," Danny said as he looked over at her while he started the car.

Lisa smiled back, "Kinda good to be back."

"And for fair warning, you're gonna be watched like a hawk."

…"noted."

**A/N: In case you wanted to know, Lisa is supposed to have brown hair and green eyes. **

**_So_... what do you think so far? I know it's not a lot right now, let me know and _review_.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all so much for my first reviews. Ya'll are great, and it's good to know that someone likes it so far! Hope you continue to like it with this next chapter. **

**And I know there may end up being some inconsistencies with the show, but I'm kind of lazy, so I usually don't really feel like checking, so I'm sorry if you are bothered by it, but feel free to point it out if you want. **

**So enjoy chapter 2!**

As they made their way to the doors of the building, Lisa shivered slightly as the chilled fall air whipped around them. It was October and actually only a couple of weeks away from Halloween. The wind had picked up just in time to give her a good slap across the face before they walked in to snap her out of her train of thought.

She had been remembering the old lab where she had visited Danny a few times in the past and remembering a few things associated with the other lab, including Aiden. She had only seen Aiden a few times but had instantly taken to her, mostly because of the ease with which she had burned her cousin a few times over while Lisa was there. It had amused her to watch the two interact, and a small smile grew on her face as she remembered when Aiden had turned him down for about the third time. It wasn't really meant seriously on either side.

Fortunately, Danny hadn't noticed her smile, or else just thought that she was excited about seeing the "new" lab. Lisa remembered how upset he had been after Aiden had been killed by Pratt. She didn't want to bring up Aiden right now because she knew that he still missed his friend.

As the slap of cold wind crossed her face, she blinked these thoughts away and walked in, looking all over. Danny laughed at her slightly raised eyebrows as he looked over at her. This place was pretty sweet, and she hadn't even gotten to the lab yet.

As the elevator opened and they stepped out, Lisa looked at all the CSIs and lab techs running around and doing their thing. Oh yeah, this was even better.

Danny led the way down the hall as Lisa continued to look left and right, through all the glass walls. Eventually, Danny stopped and guided Lisa into an office with a supportive hand resting on her back.

"Hey, Mac Daddy!"

The man at the desk, who had been intently studying the case file in front of him, looked up at the sound of her voice and smiled as he saw her.

"Well, it's about time," as he got up and gathered her in a warm, familiar hug.

"Hey, if I could control planes, it wouldn't have been delayed in the first place!"

"Lisa, if you were in control of any plane, we would all have something to worry about. Apparently, you still don't even have control of your own feet," he teased as she huffed in annoyance. Of course, he must have seen her trip a couple of offices down the hall before she had walked in. The walls _were_ glass here. And after all, this is Mac. He always knows. Of course, he could have just guessed and happened to not be so far off base. She had always been a bit clumsy. But she was improving… sort of.

"You have good timing," Mac said as he turned to Danny. "Stella just told me that she and Adam need your help with something."

"Yeah, what's new," Danny replied with a fake sigh of exasperation. Mac just gave him a look, but still had a smile on his face as Danny was only joking.

"Alright, I'm going. Thanks for the heads-up." As Danny turned to leave and find them, he patted Lisa on the shoulder, "Why don't you stay here and make sure he doesn't fry he brain?"

"I'll do my best," she laughed in response as Mac glared slightly at Danny's retreating back.

"So" Lisa redirected her attention to Mac whose smile wasn't quite as wide now, "How are you doing?"

She knew what he meant: _How are you handling being back in New York?_

She sighed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I'm okay. However, my ears are still ringing a bit from that screaming baby in 4B."

Mac chuckled at her change of subject, "The joys of coach."

"Fortunately, you have your work cut out with Lucy for the most part. She's not so much of a crier anymore."

"So I've heard. I can't wait to see her."

Lisa looked at her feet. She could feel Mac's penetrating gaze slightly pushing her to address what was on her mind from the moment she saw him through the office wall (she still couldn't get over the awesome _glass walls_). "So" she started as she looked back up at him, this time actually meeting his eyes, "how have you been?"

He smiled slightly as he repeated her. "I'm okay."

"I miss her, too," Lisa replied in a small voice to his unspoken statement. "Sometimes… well, I just wish I had gotten to know her longer."

Mac looked at her with a softer expression. "Me too."

"Lisa" She looked back up at him, brows slightly furrowed as she tried to push back the sorrow that had begun to cloud her mind.

"I really didn't want to have to ask you to do this. If I had other options, I wouldn't have even considered it, but as you're our only lead…"

She held up her hand to cut him off. "Mac, don't worry about it. Honestly, I'm glad I'm here. I've been avoiding it, I shouldn't have. If I hadn't, maybe some of this could have been avoided."

Mac fixed her with a stern look. "You know that's not true. It would've happened anyway."

She looked at him for a moment, then with a sigh, glanced out the window, lingered on the case file on the desk, and then back to Mac. "I suppose you're right," ignoring his "You _know_ I'm right" look. "But maybe there's something I can do now."

Mac didn't bother hiding the concerned and hesitant look that had settled on his face. Lisa smiled at him and brightened her tone. "Don't worry about me, Mac. Really, I'll be fine. Besides, I know ya'll will take good care of me!"

"And who exactly is this _we_?" a voice behind her teased.

She turned around and smiled as Flack strode into the room and engulfed her in a big bear hug.

"Donnie from tha block!"

" Wassup, Messer the Lesser?" She couldn't help but roll her eyes in amusement. The name, of course, wasn't meant to be insulting. It simply had to do with fact that Danny was older and she was probably always going to be the shorter one.

"Last time I saw you, you were such a small thing! And now… well, not much has changed, actually," he said as they pulled apart and he still had big, goofy grin on his face.

"Ouch!" Flack rubbed his arm in fake pain after she punched him. "Well that was uncalled for!"

Lisa raised an eyebrow. "That's always called for with you," earning a glare from his direction. She laughed and then directed her attention to the others who had come with Flack.

"Stella!" she exclaimed as Stella came forward for her hug. If there was one thing that people around Lisa knew, it was that she liked to hug. Well, she liked to hug people that she actually liked.

Stella rubbed Lisa's back as she wrapped her arms around the girl. "Hey, sweetie! It's so good to see you." Then she pulled away, but still held her shoulders. "And you just get prettier every time I see you!" To which Lisa just laughed and shook her head a little. She had met Stella during a few of her brief visits like she had with Aiden, Flack, and Hawkes. Speaking of Hawkes…

"Danny and Hawkes just left a couple of minutes ago to go by the crime scene on 5th." Oh Flack, always the mind reader.

"Hey, Leese!"

"Linds!" Lindsey laughed a little as she and Lisa hugged. They had met earlier during a couple of holidays, but, of course, Lisa still hadn't seen Lucy yet.

"Well, we won't be able to go by the apartment until, after 5. That's when I get off. Danny's a little later."

"That's alright, if I can look around for a while, that is?"

Lindsey laughed. "Not a problem. I'll show you around when you get back. You're still meeting Reed for lunch, right?"

"Yeah, I probably need to catch a cab about now, actually."

"Wait a minute," Mac spoke up with confusion. "Reed?"

Lisa grinned, "Yeah, that Reed."

"How do you know Reed?" Mac asked, now even more confused.

"What, Danny didn't tell you?" she asked as she feigned a look of innocent surprise, which earned her another slight glare from Mac. "That's my new job. I'm Reed's new photographer for _New York 24/7 News_".

"The blog, right," Mac confirmed as it clicked in his head. That's why Reed hadn't been specific when they had spoken earlier. "So I'm assuming that you're one of the 'improvements'?"

"That would probably be me. He said that he wanted to be more 'official' and have a real photographer. Well, someone other than himself taking the pictures. So I'm going to meet him for lunch because we haven't _actually_ met in person yet."

"That still doesn't really explain how you know each other," Mac said with a somewhat suspicious look. What he was suspicious about, even he didn't really know.

Lisa just shrugged her shoulders. "It was just kind of coincidence really. Mutual friends."

This seemed to satisfy Mac as he just nodded his head in response.

Looking at her watch, Lisa went to retrieve her purse from the chair in front of Mac's desk where she had left it when she walked in and turned toward the door. "I actually should get going, or he's gonna think that the plane crashed or something like that."

"I'll walk you out," Flack said as he walked with her toward the door and everyone one else in the room heard most of the conversation that followed.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You know, I don't exactly need a babysitter _every_ second of the day. I'm a big girl now!" she added sarcastically.

"I'm not so sure of that," he returned with a smirk. "Being you, you would probably get lost on the way to the elevator because you're too distracted by what's going on behind the walls." _Darn, he knows me _too _well_.

"Besides, you haven't tried to catch a cab in years. You might be a little rusty," he added as they stepped on the elevator and the doors closed.

"Well how can I argue with all of that logic."

............

Lindsey laughed as they listened to the two bickering in the hallway. "Sometimes, she's so much like Danny."

"That she is," Mac agreed while he shook his head in amusement.

Stella sighed, "Maybe that's all the more reason for us to worry."

Mac looked at the case file on the desk with disdain, hoping that nothing would go wrong. Somewhere in the back of his head, he knew it wasn't going to be that easy. It never was.

............

"Maybe I'm not the one who's getting rusty…"

Flack glared down at her as he flagged the next taxi. This time it stopped. He opened the door and Lisa stepped in. "You sure you don't need any help finding the place?"

She just gave him a look. "Don, I'm gonna be fine. _Really_. In all likelihood, he doesn't even know that I'm here yet."

Flack ducked his head a little then looked back at her. "Right. So, back by 2?"

She smiled at him, "Sure."

He gave a weak smile in return as he shut the door and tapped the top of the cab.

Later, he would all but kick himself for somehow not noticing the flash of a disappearing camera lens as he watched Lisa drive away.

**Suspense! And what do they all know that we don't? Reviews help you know faster!**

**And who were Mac and Lisa referring to in his office? Hint: It's not an OC. I think it's easy to figure out, but that could be because I'm the one writing the story, so I already know. =)**

**BTW, I've been making a few obscure references here and there. If you think you know one, tell me and I'll let you know if you're right. One has to do with where the name for Lisa came from. Or rather, I had been watching this and decided that I liked the name for this character. Hint (I like these. They're fun!): It has a lot to do with where the story opened. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter! Story's a little slow right now, but it will pick up soon.**

As they neared the café where she was meeting Reed, Lisa gazed out the window, subconsciously looking at the places they passed. Some things looked so familiar, and still so much had changed…

When the cab came to a stop, Lisa handed the money to the driver and gave a quick "thank you" even though she knew he wasn't really paying attention to her anymore; he had already spotted his next customer.

It didn't take long to spot Reed. There surprisingly weren't a lot of people for this time of day, and he was the only one with his eyes glued to his laptop. She smirked as she walked over. "Hey there, Ace!"

Reed jumped slightly as he looked up. He hadn't been paying attention as he was adding an update to one of the stories. He grinned as he put the laptop in his backpack and moved to stand. "Ace? Am I right in thinking that sounds a little sarcastic?"

Lisa shrugged. "It might be. What would you do if it was?"

"Well, I could always fire you. Seems fair to me."

"But you won't."

He paused a moment as if to think about it. "True," he replied as he pulled her into a hug. He liked the fact that he pretty much already knew her by this point, so they didn't have to do the awkward first meeting thing. It was infamously awkward for a reason.

"I was actually about to call; you know, make sure you hadn't died on the way or anything," Reed began as they sat. She inwardly rolled her eyes. _Of course_.

"Not this… oh, shoot," as she snatched her purse back up and pulled out her phone to turn it on. "Danny would've killed me if he had tried to call," She added for Reed's benefit as she noticed the curiosity on his face.

He raised his eyebrows in agreement. "Probably so."

As she dropped her purse on the ground again, she tucked her hair behind her ear again, and redirected her attention to the guy that was finally sitting across from her. "So, have you ordered yet?"

"No, I told them to wait. I wasn't that hungry yet, but I assume that you're pretty much starving about now?"

"Yes!" Lisa groaned as her stomach mimicked her actions. Reed laughed as the waiter came over and placed a coke on the table for him and sweet tea for Lisa that Reed had already ordered. _Dang, am I always that easy to read? Oh wait, I told him I like sweet tea. Right_. She was actually more surprised that they even had sweet tea.

"Do you already know what you want?" the waiter asked, mostly to Lisa as she had just come in.

Reed picked up his already closed menu and handed it to the waiter, "I'm just gonna go with a hamburger. Do you know?"

Lisa glanced at the menu for a moment. "How big is the plate of fettuccini alfredo?"

"Pretty big."

She nodded her head and handed over her menu as well. "That one."

The waiter smiled. "Sure. Your food will be out in a few minutes," he said as he turned to go back to the kitchen.

Reed looked back at Lisa. "I don't think he believes you'll finish it."

"Hm. I consider that a challenge," She replied as she drank the tea, only then noticing how thirsty she had also been.

About an hour later, while Reed and Lisa had been discussing their more recent plans for the blog, Lisa had managed to finish all of the pasta without so much as a grimace, much to the surprise of the waiter. Looking at the plate and then at Lisa, he raised an eyebrow, as she and Reed proceeded to laugh. She certainly didn't _look_ like she was on the verge of throwing up.

Then he shrugged his shoulders with a smile. "Guess you won't be needing this then?" he asked as he held up a take-out box.

As Reed and Lisa made their way out, she stopped suddenly. "Crap, what time is it?"

Reed looked at his watch. "About 2. Why?"

"I told Flack I'd be back by 2. I just don't want them to flip out on me."

"Why would they be that freaked?" Reed asked eying her with slight suspicion. Inwardly, Lisa cringed. He didn't know why she was really back, and only knew a few general things about her parents. She just didn't feel like she could tell him yet, because she didn't want him to end up treating her differently, like the others did, as if she was going to break if she wasn't watched carefully enough. They probably did think that, actually.

So she just made something up. "Well, I did just get back. Besides, would you really want to get on any of their bad sides?" she responded as she looked over at him.

Reed tilted his head a little. "Good point. How about I go with you then. That way, you're with someone and if they want to yell, they can yell at me for keeping you."

She smiled. "Sure." She wasn't going to let him take the heat for her, but if they knew that she wasn't alone, then they probably wouldn't be mad at her… much.

When they caught a cab, Reed let her slide in first and then got in himself, discreetly glancing at her from the corner of his eye. He knew something was up, but of course, he didn't know what. He may have had a few suspicions before, but after what she had just said, he was sure there was something wrong. Not that he was going to push her to say anything, but in time, he hoped she would let him know. And if not, well, what kind of reporter would he be if he didn't find out somehow?

However, he thought to himself, maybe he was the pot calling the kettle black. Subconsciously, his right hand came up to rub his neck where he could still feel the scar.

But one thing was for sure. It didn't look like Lisa's plan of avoiding the subject was working so well at the moment.

…………

Flack smirked at the two when they stepped off the elevator just as he was about to get on.

"You're late."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Only 15 minutes, Flack. What could happen?" she asked, only to mentally smack herself on the head. Stupid question.

He and Reed just looked at her for a moment. "Did you really just ask a detective that question?"

"Right, my bad."

"Hey, Reed."

"Hey, Flack."

As he stepped into the elevator, he turned to indicate Lisa. "Keep an eye on that troublemaker," he told Reed who only laughed in response.

"What did I do?"

"Well, for one, Messer's probably gonna have a heart attack if you don't show your face soon. By the way, he's in Mac's office."

Lisa rolled her eyes while Reed thanked him.

"Not a problem," he responded as the doors closed.

Lisa looked over at Reed, only to huff at the look on his face and turned on her heel to head toward Mac's office.

"Don't start."

"What?" Reed fought to keep the grin off his face as he easily fell into stride with her. "They're only concerned. I think it's adorable."

"Shut your face."

As they reached the door, Mac was the first to notice them, then Danny followed his line of sight only to fix Lisa with a stern look.

"15 minutes!" Lisa cried in exasperation.

Mac laughed at the exchange and shook his head a little as he turned his attention to Reed, a little suprised. "Reed, what brings you up here?"

"Oh, you know, just making sure Lisa didn't get lost or anything."

"Why does everyone seem to think that I get lost easily?"

"That's because you do," Danny replied as he caught sight of his wife bringing the results of the prints he and Hawkes had found at the crime scene. "I happen to recall a Christmas where you were supposed to pick me up at the airport in Columbia and ended up in Georgia."

"Seriously?" Reed laughed as Lisa glared at her cousin.

"Anyone could've done that. It was only one state over."

"You were coming from Charleston. That has to take some kind of effort."

"Yeah, on Gram's part. She enjoyed my lack of direction too much. 'No hun, go with your instinct. It'll be fine.' She just wanted to get to Savannah so she could go to that Paula Dean restaurant."

"Hey, Mac I got those results… oh, you're back, already." Lindsey smiled as she noticed Lisa and Reed were also in the room. "Hi Reed, good to see you."

"You, too."

Lindsey walked over to Mac, handing him the case file. "Only prints were the vic's."

Mac sighed in disappointment. "I figured as much."

She then turned her attention back to the two younger people. "You have good timing. I'm pretty much done for now."

At that Reed looked between the girls. "Good timing for what?"

"I'm going to show Lisa around the lab," Lindsey replied as she hooked her arm through Lisa's own arm and started to pull her toward the door, turning to look back at Reed. "You coming?"

"Oh, well, I actually should be going…"

"Yeah right. You're not getting out that easily," Lisa interrupted, hooking her free hand around Reed's elbow creating a chain of sorts as Lindsey dragged them both out the door.

"You know," Danny began as they left, "next time she goes somewhere, she's gonna be back even later."

Mac grinned in his direction as he set the file on his desk. "Just think of this as practice for Lucy."

"Mac, are you _trying_ to depress me?"

**I'm going to try to update the story more often this week because I want to try to get the Halloween part in before Halloween, but we'll see how it turns out.**

**Review! It makes me happy!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, guys! You'll probably notice that this chapter is definitely longer than the past chapters. This is mostly because I'm trying to get a certain part of the story out before Halloween. The next chapter will probably not be as long.**

**Enjoy**

"And your tour ends with a demonstration of a couple of the worker bees going about their daily business," Lindsey said as she guided Lisa and Reed into the lab where Adam and Hawkes were, of course, going over evidence from the crime scene that morning.

Lisa cocked her head to the side a little. "Making honey?"

"Analyzing trace," Hawkes spoke up as he finally managed to tear his eyes away from the microscope he was looking into and faced the three. "Hey guys," mainly addressed to Reed and Lisa.

"Hey," they both replied as Lisa walked over to greet him.

After a hug, he eyed her teasingly. "So have you been avoiding me, Little Mess?"

"Me? I think not, Mr. 'I have to go to a crime scene the second you get here'."

"So if we're the worker bees, does that make Mac the queen bee?" Adam spoke up as he also diverted his attention from the evidence he was literally piecing together and walked over to the group to meet the two. Well, meet Lisa. He had already met Reed a couple of times before when he came by to see Mac.

"'Sup, Reeds?"

"Not much, Ross," Reed responded as he fist-bumped Adam. Lisa raised an eyebrow with a slight smile. She hadn't really figured Reed for much of a fist-bumper, but she figured already that it was probably more Adam's thing.

"Lisa, this is Adam Ross. Adam, Lisa Messer," Lindsey introduced as the two shook hands.

"So are you really as bad as I hear?"

"That depends. If your source is Danny then it's probably a gross exaggeration."

"Pretty much all of them really."

"Oh, well then, if it's unanimous then it's probably true."

"Adam, I got something else for ya," Stella announced as she walked in and handed him a folder.

He took it almost gleefully, glad to get a small break from the ridiculous glass puzzle waiting to be finished. "Wuddup!" he exclaimed as he opened the file and turned to consult the trusty computer.

Just then, Lisa let out a small laugh she hadn't managed to suppress.

"What?" Hawkes asked before anyone else did.

"Just pictured Mac in a crown and other queenly apparel," she replied with a small chuckle.

"Well that was delayed," as he and the others laughed, except for Stella.

"What?"

"Apparently Mac's the queen bee here," Reed told her as he laughed at her reaction.

The confusion on Stella's face was replaced by amusement at what could have brought that up. "Ah."

"Am I hearing right, or am I really being compared to a female species in here?" Mac asked as he walked in, causing Reed to laugh even harder. Lindsey and Hawkes tried to suppress their laughter as their boss walked in, but failed miserably.

Now it was Stella's turn to laugh. "Oh, don't worry, Mac. I don't think anyone would confuse you with a girl," she assured him as she and Adam remembered the online game where Mac had definitely failed at pretending to be a girl to trap a suspect.

Mac's glare stopped any explanation.

"I actually came by to let you know that you're off," Mac told Lindsey.

"Trying to get rid of me?"

Mac chuckled. "No, just figured that you two would appreciate more time to unpack."

"That we would. Alright, guys, we're off," Lindsey announced as she, Lisa, Reed, and Mac left the lab and the others went back to work.

As they walked out to the car, Lindsey and Lisa finally convinced Reed to let them drop him off at his apartment on the way. "Same time, right?" Reed asked Mac as they approached the elevator, referring to their usual Friday night diner. They had started it a few months ago and it had become a habit.

"Yeah, I'll see you in a couple of hours," Mac responded as the three got on the elevator.

………..

Later that night, Danny walked into his apartment to the sound of Lucy's loud giggling. After tossing his jacket on a chair near the door he walked into Lisa's new room, the direction from where the giggling was coming from. He laughed as he saw Lindsey hanging up clothes by herself.

"She makin' you do all the work, Montana."

She laughed as she walked over to kiss her husband. "Well, in all fairness, she keeps getting distracted," she replied as she looked over to Lisa and Lucy sitting on the floor rolling a ball back and forth while Lisa made faces, which was causing Lucy to erupt in laughter.

"Aw, finally found a playmate there, Leese?"

"Don't be jealous, Danny. You only wish you were as fun as me."

Danny turned back to face his wife. "So did you remember to talk to Lisa's new preschool yet?" Before Lindsey could reply, he took a small red ball to the face, knocking his glasses askew. He turned to direct a glare at Lisa, who only gave him a wide-eyed, innocent look and pointed to Lucy who was now laughing at her daddy's funny face. It was turning out to be a fairly good night for her.

…………

Lisa didn't end up getting a lot of sleep that night. Not for lack of trying, and certainly not because of the sounds of the city on the other side of her window. If anything, that would have helped her sleep better than she had in years. She missed it. Luckily, it didn't show by the time she got up, which was not much later than Danny and Lindsey had gotten up. She showered and got ready in silence for the most part. She would normally sing in the shower or listen to her iPod as she went about the rest of her morning routine, but for the moment she just let her mind linger on what she would be doing that day. More importantly, what she would be doing that morning.

When she walked into the kitchen, she laughed at the sight of Lindsey trying to feed Lucy while Danny assured her that the food really wasn't that bad. Half of it was already on the table.

"Come on, Luc. If I could, I would totally eat this stuff. But this is your stuff, and I wouldn't wanna take that from you, it's that good," Danny tried again. He was clearly not getting anywhere. Lindsey flashed a grin at Lisa, and Lisa bit her lip as she tried not to give away what she knew was coming.

"Yeah, baby. He just loves it so much. See?" Before Danny could move away, Lindsey shoved the spoon full of baby food in his mouth. Lisa burst out laughing as Danny grimaced and swallowed the food almost painfully.

"_Delicious_…"

Lisa shook her head as she grabbed a bowl and spoon and set them down on the table before reaching for the milk and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

"So you're going to meet Reed in a few minutes, right?"

"Yes," Lisa answered almost too quickly. She was actually going to meet him at 10.

She was saved further explanation by the knocking on the door. _Thank you, Ronnie!_

As Lindsey went to let Ronnie (Rhonda, the sitter) in, Danny took Lucy and went in search of her bear, Sookie (so named by Lucy herself, though they had no idea what she was actually trying to say at the time), and Lisa quickly washed the dishes. As she dropped the last spoons in the drainer, she heard the two women laughing about something in the living room and after drying her hands on the towel walked in.

"Ronnie, this is Lisa, your backup." Ronnie turned to greet Lisa with a warm smile and shook her hand. She looked to be about late 50s, early 60s.

"I'll try not to make you work too hard."

Lisa only gave a small laugh. "Don't worry about it. It's not a problem."

A few minutes, Danny handed off Lucy to Ronnie after she had kissed her parents goodbye, and also happily gave Lisa one as well, eager to add another person to her own morning routine. As they stepped out on the street, Lindsey looked over at Lisa as she and Danny walked over to the car and Lisa went to flag down a cab. "Are you sure you don't want a ride, Leese?"

"No, I'm fine. You guys go ahead or you'll be late."

Danny hesitated in his step and kept watching her as a cab pulled over to let her in until Lindsey put a hand on his arm. He turned to her and gave her smile. "I know, I know. She'll be _fine_."

Lisa briefly looked at them through the back window with a little guilt. She didn't like lying to them.

Well, not exactly telling them _everything_.

………..

Breathing in deeply, Lisa walked ahead as she heard the taxi turn off behind her and pictured the cabbie recline in his seat a little to lay his head back, tuning out everything else but the radio. He kindly offered to wait for a few minutes, as it would probably be a while before another one came by for her. They weren't that far out from the main part of the city, but it was far enough. And it looked like he had an early morning and wanted a few minutes of downtime anyway.

Camera in hand, Lisa took her time walking down the path, and she paused occasionally as she saw something to snap a quick picture of: an old stone, a cluster of flowers that were already dead from the cold and time, and the deep red cardinal that lingered a few feet away. She didn't end up taking that many though, as she was looking for something more specific. Each step seemed to get longer and harder, but she pushed herself forward, remembering exactly where she needed to go.

Finally, her leaden feet came to a stop after what felt like half an hour. She stood for a minute, almost willing the object in front of her to disappear. When it didn't, she dejectedly let out a shaky sigh past the painful lump in her throat as she all but collapsed on the stone bench placed in front of the stone that, in her eyes, seemed to be much larger.

All of the stone that surrounded her seemed to increase the cold emptiness in the air that was now reverberating in her lungs. Her eyes could only focus on the two names.

_Benjamin Joseph Messer. Charlotte Marie Holmes Messer._

Lisa closed her eyes and could see her parents' smiling faces as clearly as if she had just seen them yesterday.

_Her dad had picked her up and was spinning her around as she squealed in delight at the brief feeling of flight. Her mom was standing a few feet away, torn between laughing and scolding her husband for swinging their little girl around the room. She finally just settled on laughing as she brushed her long hair behind her ear, a darker, richer shade of brown than Ben's. Her warm brown eyes caught her husband's light green ones as she suddenly snatched Lisa out of his arms and set her down before commencing a tickle fight with the little girl._

Charlotte didn't need to worry about her husband dropping Lisa. He would've never let go. Not without a fight.

As Lisa opened her eyes again, she felt a tear slip down her cheek and brought up her sleeve-covered hand to wipe it away. She still missed them so badly it hurt. As memories of that day flashed through her head, she knew there was something she could have done that day. There had to have been. They had deserved better than this. Had deserved a better fight from her.

Ducking her head, she looked at her phone. _9:40_.

With a sigh, she forced down the lump in her throat and looked at the headstone as she stood up. She placed her hand on the top for a moment, imagining that it was actually holding one of their hands.

"I'm so sorry."

As she walked back to the gate, she let the cold fall air wash over her and wake her up while she took deep breaths. By the time she knocked on the taxi window so the man could know she was back, it was hard to tell she had been crying.

But someone knew she had been.

……….

This time, she was already inside the Starbucks and in line by the time she saw Reed walking down the sidewalk in her direction. As he walked over to her, he smiled. "You ready for your first day?"

She smiled back, remembering her excitement. "Ya know, while I've already got the job of photographer, I might as well apply to be your personal secretary," she suggested as she reached out and removed a leaf from his hair. "You seem like you could use the help."

"Cute," Reed returned, rolling his eyes as he pointed ahead of her to indicate that it was her turn to order.

She shrugged as she turned to the cashier. "I try."

Ten minutes later, they had left and where walking down the sidewalk toward the subject of their new story.

"I just don't get it," Lisa mused as she took another sip of her coffee. "Why do all these people keep coming to the stupid house in the first place if someone dies practically every other night? Do they all have a freaking death wish?"

"Well, I suppose it's because they're either from the city, which means that they somehow think that they're invulnerable, or they're tourists, who think that it's either some stupid story that was made up to keep tourists like themselves away from all of the good stuff, or it's pretty much why they came to the city for Halloween anyway."

She looked over at him with a mock-admiring look. "And that's why _you_ are the sensational journalist while I am merely the humble photographer."

"Yeah, yeah" was all Reed replied as he placed a hand on the back of her upper arm to indicate that they had arrived at the haunted house. Not that it was exactly hard to miss.

The house didn't actually have a name. The creators hadn't wanted to give it some cheesy "Horror House" name and ruin the idea, but with the recent murders, 5 in 3 weeks (the house had started fairly early), the tabloids and people in the city had nicknamed it the "House of Death". Not much better than cheese, but everyone knew what you were talking about, so it stuck. It was a Halloween attraction that had actually started 3 years ago, but had gained quite a following, which was why the police hadn't yet managed to shut it down. It would be bad for business and the people just kept coming anyway.

Reed and Lisa had decided that they were going to get their own perspective on the story while they were at lunch yesterday. They had been careful to not to reveal their plans for the story to Mac or the others. They would flip a lid if they knew that either of them were working on the story, much less anywhere near the building itself.

As they walked up to the building, they overhead some of the "behind-the-scenes" chaos that was actually taking place in the street.

"No, I said tha new figures were going in the dining room! Why tha hell would I want them there!" a balding man in his mid-40s yelled at the workers who were bringing the last of the new "improved" monsters into the building. Lisa felt her eyebrow lift. Yeah, this was definitely the manager they were looking for.

"Mr. Darren Jennings?" Reed made their presence known as the workers turned back to the house, resisting the incredibly tempting urge to throw the 185 lb life-size statue at Jennings's head. The man turned on them.

"What?" he snapped impatiently.

"We'd like to have your own testimony as to what all's been going on here," Reed answered unfazed as he indicated the house behind Jennings with his pen, which he had whipped out moments before along with his pad. "Reed Garret," he introduced as he held out his hand to shake, "and this is Lisa Messer. We're here for _New York 24/7 News_."

"Yeah, that blog thing," Jennings muttered, shaking Reed's hand and then Lisa's, lingering on her's for a moment as he looked her over. "Reporters, eh?"

"Yes, Mr. Jennings, now do you have a moment?" Reed snapped to get his attention.

"Yeah, yeah, I got a minute," Jennings replied as he drew his gaze away from Lisa and back to Reed.

Lisa just looked at Reed with a slightly surprised look. _What was that about?_

"Unfortunately, there's not much new I can give ya at the moment," Jennings began as they walked closer to the building and Lisa began to take a few pictures of the outside. "5 people dead, nothin to do with each other 'cept they died here. All supposta be killed by different creatures in different ways. Any details, you already know."

"Interesting. Can we have a look around?" Lisa jumped in, getting straight to the point.

Jennings looked back at her with a slightly stunned expression. "And what exactly makes you think I'd think that's a good idea?"

"Well, clearly you're going through a _lot_ of trouble to get your approval ratings back up," Lisa began as she pointed out the workers off to the right that were staggering under the weight of a rather large grandfather clock, which she figured it was safe to assume was hiding more than a pendulum. "You need to get the word out somehow. What better way do to that then give the public a couple of sneak peaks?" she added, holding up her camera as she brought her eyes back to meet his.

Jennings looked at her for a moment, then laughed a little as he looked back at Reed.

"Got spunk. Where'd ya getter?"

"South."

"Heh, figures. Well, go ahead. But it betta be good," he answered, turning his back on them to yell at more frustrated workers.

Lisa looked over to Reed, who returned her gaze impressed. "Nicely done, Ace. After you." She smiled as he threw her joke back at her and proceeded to walk to the entrance.

But as she got to the doorway, she turned around suddenly with an overdramatically frightened expression. "Oh Reed! I just don't know if I can do this anymore! What if the monster wants to get _me_ next?"

Reed laughed. "I'd _never_ let him get you," he teased as he grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. "Now we have a story to get," he added as he guided her through the door.

**Sooo, let me know what you think. Next chapter will be up soon.**

**Btw, Lisa's parents look like Brendan Fraser and Holly Marie Combs. Why exactly? Because it worked for me. I love both of those actors!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well, just kidding. This chapter is actually longer than the last, but I just wanted to get it all up in time for Halloween. **

**Hope you enjoy!**

"Lovely," Lisa scrunched her nose as she pushed a cobweb out of her face, and looked around. One of the first things they noticed as their eyes adjusted to the lighting was the name scrawled on the wall in fake blood: _House of Death_.

"Looks like the name caught on," Reed commented as he ran his finger through the purposefully planted dust on one of the shelves.

"Well, they've got to keep up the reputation," Lisa added as she snapped a picture of the wall.

"I think you'd be more interested in the dining room. I've been told it's where the place really comes to life."

Lisa and Reed turned to the source of the voice: a man walking down the stairs. He looked to Lisa to be about 28, lean build, and on the taller side of 6 feet. As he got to the bottom of the stairs, he held out his hand to Lisa first, as she was closer. "Gary Handler."

"Lisa Messer. I suppose you've figured out what we're here for."

Gary smiled as he turned to Reed as he introduced himself. "I think I have a pretty good idea. I'm the coordinator here. Jennings comes up with an idea, I take care of everything else."

"So you basically know the most of what goes on here."

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Unfortunately?"

"You know, the murders. It's one thing to see something like this in the movies, but another when it's your own workplace."

Reed and Lisa exchanged a brief look. "No joke."

Lisa turned back to Gary. "What exactly did you mean about the dining room?"

"Well, you could probably get better specifics from the guys around here, but basically weird stuff happens the days of the murders."

"You mean other than murder?"

"What all do you know so far?"

"Just that the murders where all different, with very different people. Varying ages, ethnicities, gender…"

"And apparently different murderers," Gary stated as he indicated for them to follow him.

Reed and Lisa looked at each other with slightly surprised looks as Reed indicated for Lisa to go first.

"As in there are 5 different killers involved?" Reed asked as they made their way up.

"Well, monsters actually. If you believe what people claim they've seen."

Lisa looked over at him as they walked into the "dining room". "Enlighten us."

"I think Bill can do a better job of that." As they walked in, they saw a few of the workers from outside putting another statue in the room. There were quite a few sitting around the elaborately decorated table. When Gary had mentioned Bill, one of the men looked up.

"Somethin' you need me for, Handler?" Bill asked as he walked over.

"I was going to see if you could tell these two what you and the guys noticed that you were telling me about the other day."

Bill's face darkened a little before he answered. "I suppose you've noticed that there aren't as many people around as there should be?"

Reed shrugged. "Maybe a little understaffed."

"Half the fellas left cause they thought they were gonna end up dead if they stayed. I have halfa mind to leave myself."

"Because of the murders?"

"Not just that. This place is haunted."

"… well, that's kind of the idea, right?" Lisa asked.

"He means actually haunted. You know, disembodied voices, angry spirits, the whole shebang," Gary spoke up.

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, these things can't just kill people on their own!" Bill exclaimed, indicating the monsters around the table. "Somethin's makin them come to life, killing all these people."

Lisa wasn't exactly sure what to say. Did they actually believe this, or were they trying to put them off the story?

Reed, however, was not going to stop just yet. "You mean to say that the statues are being used like… puppets?"

"Somethin' like that. Those people all got killed the way the creatures would've killed them. One lady got the blood sucked outta her."

"By Dracula over there?" Lisa indicated the figurine of Dracula sitting at the head of the table and almost shuddered. Real or not, it still looked fairly life like… and menacing.

"Yeah. Same thing with the others. Man strangled by the mummy, college kids slashed by that Friday the 13th guy…"

"And the old woman who had a heart attack?"

"Scared ta death by the ghost."

"Well those are all good points, but why couldn't it just be some nut-job with a thing for horror movies?" Reed asked.

"That's the thing," Gary interjected. "The day of the murder, the statue would disappear."

"Every time?"

"Mummy's gone, and the next morning there's a dead guy in the Mummy's Tomb. Voorhees's gone, the next morning there's two kids and a bloody mess in the hall. You get the idea for the rest."

"We realized it after the 3rd time."

"Well, if you saw the pattern before, why didn't you try to stop it the next time a statue went missing?"

"We did. Amped up security, added cameras, didn't make a difference. The guys didn't see a thing until it was too late. And the cameras all died at the same time."

Reed and Lisa just stood there for a moment. "Uh huh."

Bill gave them one last look before turning to go back to work. "Like I said. _Haunted_."

In a room down the hall, they could hear Jennings's vociferous tones. "I swear, if that Krueger statue isn't over here in 2 hours, it's comin outta your paycheck. I don't care if you weren't in charge of what went on that truck or not."

"Well, this place is a funhouse," Lisa stated sarcastically as they stepped out in the hall again.

"Literally."

Lisa turned to Gary with a look.

"There's a Hall of Mirrors maze upstairs."

"Of course there is."

"Yeah, too bad, ya'll aren't gonna see much of it. I hear it's pretty awesome." Lisa winced at the voice. Of course it was her luck he would be here.

"Flack," Reed acknowledged and Lisa could practically hear the wince in his voice as well.

"You know, Danny and Mac would have your heads if they knew you two were here. Heck, I might join 'um with that."

"In the daytime, Don." Lisa replied. "Murders all happened at night. We're good."

"I would agree if I didn't know that you're also intending on being here tonight as well. Hey there, Handler."

"Hey, Detective. Did you have anymore questions?"

"Oh no, just checking up. Glad I did, too."

Sensing that this was something he didn't need to get in the middle of, Gary moved to take his leave. "Well, if you think of anything, let me know. I probably won't be that hard to find. Now I'm going to see if I can save one of my employees' jobs."

As he walked away, Flack turned back to the two. "So when exactly was this death wish established? I mean you're one thing," he said looking at Reed, "but you" as he looked at Lisa, "have barely been here a day, and just seem to be itching to get yourself in trouble."

"You are completely blowing this out of proportion. It's just a story."

"Yeah, and there've only been 5 murders. You're right, not a big deal at all."

Before Lisa could say anything else, Reed interrupted. "Well we still need to finish here, but we'll definitely out before it opens again."

Flack stood for a moment and then nodded. "Then it looks I will be, too."

After a sigh, Reed turned to Lisa. "You know, you're gonna have to tell me what exactly they're all going on about with you.

Lisa froze for a moment. "…as soon as you do."

They just looked at each other for a moment.

"Later," they said at the same time as they walked into the next room.

Flack just shook his head as he followed them.

……….

"GAHH!" Lisa yelped for about the 5th time since they had started going around the house, which ended up with Reed and Flack practically rolling on the floor with laughter… again. Angrily, she shoved the zombie that had been so strategically placed to jump out at her to the side. "One more time, guys. One more time…"

"Well, you're in luck, since we're pretty much done here," Reed told her, as Flack wiped a tear from his eye.

"Yeah, whatever," Lisa rolled her eyes as she turned to see if there was another picture to take when something caught her eye. As she walked over to the wall, she fingered the small portion of torn fabric that had caught on the shelf. It looked so familiar, but she couldn't place it. _Seat cushion, curtain, costume, shirt, sweater_…

As they were walking out the door, Reed suddenly realized that Lisa wasn't behind him anymore. "Lisa?"

"They didn't forget it," she almost whispered.

"What?" Lisa turned to see the two now looking at her with concerned looks.

"The statue. It was on the truck. That was the statue they were bringing in when we were talking to Jennings outside. It hadn't been left behind."

"The Freddie Krueger statue?" Lisa nodded at Reed.

"Are you sure?" Flack asked, getting into detective mode.

"Positive. It definitely went missing here. This is from the sweater."

"Ok, I'm gonna go take care of this. In the meantime, you two are done here for the day. No arguments," he added as Lisa and Reed were about to protest. "besides, it opens in about 10 minutes anyway."

As they walked out the door and down the steps to the sidewalk, Reed suggested that they go get something to eat. "We skipped lunch anyway and it's already 5."

"Alright," Lisa gave in as she tried to calm the uneasy feeling in her stomach.

………..

"Don't put up the story yet," Lisa told Reed as they sat in the Internet café. They had been there since they had finished eating at the diner a couple of blocks away, working on the story. They had actually just finished putting it together and it was about midnight.

"Why not?" Reed looked up at her in confusion.

"Story might change before the night's over anyway," she muttered.

Reed sighed as he shut the laptop. "Lisa, it's going to be fine. But if it will make you feel better, why don't we go ahead and walk by. It already closed a few minutes ago anyway."

She gave him a small, guilty smile. "He's gonna kill us."

Reed laughed as they got up. "Not if we don't go in."

………..

As they turned onto the street, Lisa noticed that Flack's car wasn't anywhere in sight. "Guess Flack doesn't think there's a threat anymore."

As they reached the house, they paused to stand for a minute and watch the it.

"See, there's noth…" Reed as interrupted by a piercing scream that caused their blood to freeze.

"Stay here and call Flack. I'm going to get that policeman around the corner," Reed instructed the still frozen Lisa as he ran to find the police.

Finally she snapped out of it enough to grab her phone out of her pocket, trying to distract herself from the urge to run in as another scream came through the walls of the house. _Where did everyone go?!_

It didn't take long for him to pick up. "Not now Lisa, I've gotta…"

"…get back to the house? No kidding."

"What? Are you there?" Lisa winced a little as she listened to him utter a few profanities. "Look, just stay out there and wait for Reed to get back. Lisa?"

Lisa's grip on the phone tightened as she heard another distinct cry for help. It was definitely a younger girl.

_Frick_. She hung up on Flack as she ran into the house.

……….

Flack slammed the door of the car shut as he got out and looked around trying to figure out what was going on. They had gotten an anonymous tip that someone had been attacked in this area, so Flack had gotten called away from the house to check it out along with a couple of officers. After a couple minutes of looking around for _anything_ that was wrong, he gave a sigh of frustration. Had they given him the right address?

"Detective Flack, you might wanna look at this. Found it taped on the wall over there," one off the officers handed him a piece of paper.

_Trick or Treat_

"Sonofa…" Flack ran back to the driver's side of his car as his phone rang with Lisa's number.

………..

As she ran through the door, Lisa looked left and right, not entirely sure where the girl would be. It had suddenly gone very quiet. She quickly but quietly walked through the first floor. Shudders running down her spin, she nearly kicked herself for not picking up one of the huge flashlights at the door for the tours. This place was a lot more disturbing at night and she _definitely_ did not want to be there.

Just as she was backing out of the dining room, she felt herself back into a very solid something else that wasn't a wall.

She gasped and jumped about a foot in the air as she spun around to face the hysterically screaming girl.

"HE'S GOING TO KILL ME! PLEASEDON'TLETHIMKILLME!!!"

"Come here!" Lisa shouted in the girl's face as she grabbed her wrist and practically dragged the girl to the front door. "Go!" The girl broke out in a frantic run out the door as Lisa turned for a moment to see if he was anywhere near.

But as she turned back, her eyes widened as she faced a now closing door. She ran as fast as she could, but only ended up slamming into the wood. Pulling back slightly, she began pounding on the door. "Hey! Somebody!"

"Let-me-out-of-here!" she yelled as she jerked on the unyielding door handle. She froze again as she heard a sinister laugh coming from somewhere behind her. On the first floor.

As stupid as she knew it was, she couldn't seem to stop her feet from turning and running for the stairs up to the second floor.

_Stupid, idiot, freaking IDIOT!_

As she reached the top of the stairs, she ran to the first door she saw and quickly shut it behind her and leaned her back against it for a minute to catch her breath and listen for any indicator that he had already followed her up. When she opened her eyes, she realized just how stupid she was. Of all the rooms on the second floor, she had to pick the hall of freaking mirrors. Great place to hide. She moved to open the door when she realized it was already locked.

_Double frick_.

She quickly turned to try and find the other door in the room, feeling terribly exposed and frantically looked around as she ran through the maze. As she stopped for a minute to decide which way to go, she looked up at the mirror in front of her as she heard a cruel, raspy laugh. As she looked at the face that looked at her _through_ the mirror, she shook her head at how stupid it all was, really. "You've _got_ to be kidding me."

A smirk grew on his burnt face as he dragged his knife-tipped fingers down the glass that separated them. " 'fraid not, sweetheart."

She turned on her heal and ran in any direction to get away from the freaky, murdering psychopath. Unfortunately, he had been a little faster than her as he was now blocking her path to freedom. "No running in the halls."

He hadn't been fast enough to shut the mirror/door before she had turned the corner. Clearly he didn't have magical powers. But the poor thing clearly wished he did. "So, you are kidding me."

"Not quite," he sneered as he lunged at her. She had managed to move just in time and he ended up shattering the mirror that had been behind her.

She hadn't noticed his hand coming back faster than she had anticipated and he sliced at her arm. A cry of pain escaped her lips as she gripped her arm and felt warm blood begin to drip down through her sleeve and she tripped over her own feet as she tried to move away in a panic. As she looked up at him again, he waved his sharp fingers tauntingly so that they glinted menacingly in the faint light.

"I'll kill ya slow."

"Screw you." At that, he had turned to face whoever had spoken but had swiftly been bashed in the head with one of the ridiculously huge (and apparently heavy) flashlights from downstairs, and began screaming in pain.

Panting, Reed tossed the flashlight away (Lisa smiled a little as she heard another groan of pain as the flashlight made impact again) and walked over to Lisa to kneel down next to her. "Are you ok?" he asked as the two police officers ran in and restrained "Krueger" whose mask had already started to come off where Reed had hit him.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"You're kind of bleeding."

She looked down at herself. "…oh yeah, that." Not only were there slashes on her arm, but there were several cuts in various places from the falling shards of glass. "Jerk."

At this Reed laughed a little. She was fine.

It was about that time that Flack came running in, pissed that he hadn't been there in time to take out the creep himself. Instead, he turned to the two younger people. "Seriously? I just tell you to stay out of the creepy house and you go running in?"

Reed turned to Lisa, whose face had turned red in embarrassment. "Tell it to her."

…………

Not fifteen minutes later, Lisa was sitting in the back of an ambulance while the paramedic finished wrapping her arm, and Reed stood on her other side. He hadn't left it since he found her. They listened as the 12-year-old girl, somewhat calmer now, talked to Flack a few feet away.

"It was just a stupid dare. Rachel told me after the tour was done that I had to stay in there all night to prove that I wasn't scared. I mean I totally was, but I couldn't let her know that, so I hid under the table until everyone was gone. The guard was only gone like 5 minutes before the guy came after me. I know I'm not _supposed_ to know who Freddie Krueger is but everyone's seen those movies. And if you haven't, you're like a total loser, and I'm not and I _totally_ was not going to let Rachel say that I was because I couldn't stay in the house for one stupid night…"

"I think that's about all I need for now, thank you."

"Sure thing." She then turned to Lisa. "OMG, thank you sooo much! I would have DIED!"

Lisa fought back the urge to laugh. "Not a problem." She was saved further conversation with the hyper preteen as the girl's parents arrived.

Lisa winced as the paramedic tightened the bandage.

"Stupid, crispy dream-killer wannabe, bast…"

"Lisa!" She and Reed turned to see Mac, Danny, and Lindsey quickly push their way through the crowd, flash their badges at the cops and make their way over.

Lisa winced at the bone crushing pressure as Danny and Lindsey engulfed her in a hug as Reed also received a hug from Mac.

"Unbelievable, Leese. Absolutely unbelievable." Danny shook his head at her as he pulled away. "Barely a day and you just happen to find some ridiculous, highly unlikely way to get yourself killed."

She rolled her eyes. "My gosh, why don't you and Flack just marry each other already? You already have the same brain."

Flack laughed. "I think Lindsey's already got that covered."

All the while, Lindsey had been fretting over her, checking out all of the little cuts and the bandaged arm. "You could have _died_!" she cried in near anguish. Then she turned her attention to Reed and gave him another crushing hug. "Thank _God_, you were there in time!"

Everyone laughed a little as Danny raised an eyebrow at his wife. "You know, she's gotten a little crazy ever since she became a mother." His only answer was a punch to the arm.

Danny and Lindsey went to go find the lead officer to let him know that Lisa and Reed would be leaving, while Mac turned his attention to Lisa. "How about you tone down the near-death experiences for a while?"

She only gave him a smile and a small laugh. "I'll try to resist temptation, Mac."

"And next time you have a story like this," he added addressing both, "let us know."

Reed nodded a little in a slightly defeated manner. "Sure thing."

"We'll talk about all of this later. Right now, you two need to get home," Mac said as Danny and Lindsey came back and they got ready to leave.

Lisa got up and hugged Reed. "Thanks for all of that."

He laughed as he returned the hug warmly. "Hey, I told you I wouldn't let him get you."

As Lisa got in the car with Danny and Lindsey, she realized just how tired she was as she fought to keep her hundred pound eyelids open.

……….

He growled in frustration as he saw Lisa at the ambulance with all of those people. Practically her new family. That wasn't supposed to happen. She was never supposed to get that second chance. Well, he was just going to have to fix that soon. He had to tie off the loose ends he had left years ago.

**Any good, still? Let me know! **

**And Happy Halloween!**


	6. Chapter 6

**So I know this is a fairly short chapter, but it's been a while since the last update. I've been a little overloaded with papers and tests and projects, and a case of writer's block, but I felt that it was about time for a quick update and hopefully I'll be able to get more up before Thanksgiving. **

As it turned out, Lisa had not been attacked by the _real_ Freddie Krueger.

But she had suspected as much when his "face" had fallen off to reveal the disgruntled, not as scary but still not particularly pleasant, face of Marshall Brody, whose name she and Reed had learned the next day as they all sat in the break room of the crime lab. Mac told them about how Brody had been Darren Jennings's partner since the beginning of the haunted house up until that summer when they had a falling out. Basically, Jennings had been wanting to keep adding new tricks and attractions to the house, while Brody had wanted to keep it old school and stick with actors, the one thing, in his opinion, that worked every time. However, Jennings had been able to gain the upper hand and eventually got control of everything, enough to force Brody out of the picture.

Furious, Brody had immediately started plotting his revenge on his mutinous partner. Not that this really surprised anyone. Brody had also been known for his temper, which was why Gary Handler had been practically welcomed with open arms. Much easier to work with. It was also another reason that Brody and Jennings had never been able to work well together for long.

Having been the main designer for the house, Brody knew exactly where everything was, including the passages behind the mirrors in the mirror maze and the hidden passageways in the walls that he had "conveniently" forgotten to mention to anyone else. As for the monster themes, he had past experience with stage makeup and plenty of props from the haunted house, so those factors pretty much decided his plan for him. He had actually found it all to be fairly easy as he had developed a talent for slipping around unnoticed from his backstage experiences. He wanted to sabotage Jennings's career at any cost, although he was beginning to have a little too much fun.

Of course, one stupid little photographer had managed to throw a rock in his plans when she just happened to notice the torn piece of fabric that lead her to realize that yet another statue had gone missing (he took the statues to get the "authentic" costume to make his game more believable) and just had to tell the annoyingly persistent detective. He had been hoping to get by undetected that day since it was getting harder and harder to get around the cops, and Flack's increase in security had made it nearly impossible for him to pull off his stunt for that night.

But he had managed to get through, and for a moment it seemed that revenge was being handed to him on a silver platter when Lisa Messer came frantically stumbling through the door to play the heroine. Brody, however, was not about to let that happen so easily. He was still pretty pissed off at her meddling, and when opportunity presented itself, he just couldn't be expected to pass up the offer. Unfortunately her friends had been a little too quick to return, despite the wild goose chase he had sent Flack on.

And so by the late morning, he was furiously muttering about that little… witch who had ended up getting him caught and sitting in a jail cell. Bad news for him, good news for Lisa.

Unfortunately, Lisa realized that was about the only good news she would get as she gave a tired groan and carelessly dropped her head on the table she was sitting at as she and everyone else in the room were watching the news… which she was currently on.

The media had been a little faster than Mac had anticipated and so hadn't managed to make Lisa off-limits to the reporters in time. Other photographers had managed to get pictures of her before the paramedics had cleaned up the blood that had quickly managed to get all over her somehow. Thankfully, it was definitely not as bad as it looked, although it was still very painful when she had come in that morning and Hawkes had given her a pat on the shoulder, forgetting that was the arm that was hurt. Reed had laughed half-heartedly as he was still feeling a bit guilty for leaving her alone last night in the first place. He really should have known better.

Lindsey laughed as Lisa's head hit the table.

"Aw, don't worry Leese. You won't be haunted house girl forever. You're bound to get yourself in more trouble and back in the spotlight for totally different reasons, I just know it."

"Bite me," Lisa replied in a muffled voice. The others just laughed as they assured her it would only be a 15 minutes of fame thing.

No one realized then just how right Lindsey was.

**Let me know that you guys are still interested and review!**


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